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Valerie - posted on 03/15/2010

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Oh my goodness. I am a teacher so I have quite a few hours in child psychology and development as well. At this age, all that your child is doing is straight memorization. They have no concept of what the letter actually is or the purpose of it or any of the foundational principals of reading. At this age they should be learning things like the concepts of water and what happens when you splash in it and what grass feels like and how to throw a ball. There are so many of our kids today that are entering school able to regurgitate information but without the reasoning ability that most kids should gain from exploring their worlds.

I have a 22 month old who knows his abc's and twinkle twinkle and about 15 signs (not baby signs, I'm a baby signs instructor, he is learning true ASL because his grandmother is deaf). He can count to five and generally says "WEE!" after it because he's expecting to get thrown into the air. He can gallop and throw a ball and climb a ladder and a playground and is learning to pour. He likes to explore instruments and throws temper tantrums and other age appropriate things.

my son doesn't know them, and he's not talking much, HOWEVER he's a little monkey and has broken through ALL of our child proofing measures. He's way above average when it comes to those skills but below average when it comes to his talking.

It is neat to watch them learn, and knowing the alphabet at this age is a bit early for most. At this age if kids aren't talking or doing those things, it doesn't make them dumb or slow, they all just work on different skills at different times.

My son knows what letters and numbers are, but he can only identify "o" with any accuracy. He sings the alphabet song to a certain degree: A B C D E M N O P X Y Z (for example). We have letter magnets on the fridge now, and I spell out words with him. I also read to my son regularly, so hopefully he'll learn to love reading, but I'm not worried that he doesn't know the alphabet yet.

No we definitely don't learn things by memorization. We learn things in a conceptual format through scaffolding old information into new information. Those things that you just listed are appropriate things for a toddler to be doing. I can promise you that by second grade all of our kids will be in just about the same spot and their own natural ability will out shine what they memorized in early developmental stages.

I'm sure your daughter is exceptional and will continue to excel in life because of the strong foundation for learning that she has been given.

You'll probably only get responses from people whose children do know the alphabet and can count. :-) But I don't think it's "average" or normal at this age, at least from what I've read.

For your record, my 20 month old knows all the letters, points them out everywhere, counts everything (up to 12), knows shapes, colours (including pink, grey etc), and all body parts (including shoulders, knees, elbows etc), and hundreds of words. Their little memories are insane and so fun to watch.

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Misskathie76 - posted on 08/13/2014

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My son is 19 months and also knows most of the letters of the alphabet and saw three letters together E M O and recognized that those letters are in Elmo's name. There was no picture of Elmo around. He just kept shouting "Elmo" He also knows about 6 colors and at least 3 shapes and 2 or 3 numbers. He points them out everywhere we go! I actually give "Wheel of Fortune" the credit-lol Whenever he hears it come on he runs to the Tv and starts shouting letters. He always has loved that show!! Once he was teething and miserable (at about 10 months) but when it was on he would stop crying. A commercial would come, he would cry and then he would stop and turn around when it came back. He still does a lot of the critical things. He plays with playdough, water, sand, runs, jumps and climbs. He says about 75 words and a lot more that I just can't understand. I don't push it, he just seems to get it. He's a normal toddler. He knows they are letters! I have no doubt. He never shouts numbers at Wheel of Fortune. He calls the shapes on his shape sorter. It's all appropriate.

My son was having trouble learning his ABC's. He had no interest so I started to get creative and appeal to his humorous side. I ended up creating Alpha Cards: ABC flashcards especially for boys (girls like them too). They have just the right amount of gross mixed with a ton of funny. They have made such a difference in his learning, recognizing and remembering his ABC's. You can check them out at he-is-all-boy.com

My daughter will be 2 on May 29th. She knows the alphabet, can count to 5, and knows close to 75 words, big ones too like Alligator, Quesadilla, and Butterfly. We totally think she is way smart, but we are never around any other 22 month olds so have no one to compare too. Some of the credit goes to "Signing Times" DVD. She watches 30 minutes once a day.

My 22mo daughter knows her letters. But she is sort of obsessed with them. I also encourage letters with everything I do. Signs, t-shirts, books. I recently bought some scrapbook letter stickers and let her put them on plain paper. she love it (two things she loves: stickers and letters). I also associate all letters with things she loves. good work with your son! He'll have the whole alphabet soon!

My daughter can do all those things too...but we were talking about ABC's in this conversation. She knows how to throw a ball, color, splash water, climb a ladder/steps (even though I don't want her to), she has even helped me cook and bake cakes and all these things she has learned is memorization also. Isn't that how we ALL learn????

my 21 month old daughter knows ALL her ABC's and sings them in order and can name each one no matter what order they are in when shown to her. She also knows her colors, shapes, counts 1-10, and can name them when shown to her and knows just about every animal and the sounds they make. She is now learning to count 11-20. I read to her everyday and she LOVES books. I don't owe it to Sesame Street we take the time with her so I owe it to me and her daddy. Oh and she has several songs that she sings including but not limited to...Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the bus, Row your boat, ring around the rosie...and many more. She has been doing most of these things since she was 18months old.

Hi Karissa - Yeah my daughter is 21mths old and can count to 10 with my husband and I, and is really into repeating everything and anything ALREADY... letters, words, (swearing included) - God help us.

I have 2 other sons 9yr and 6yr and neither of them were this interested at this early age. Its good in a way, I definately wouldn't discourage it, but I would like my little baby girl for a little longer...

My daughter Madison is 21 Months old and she can not go a day without sesame street...she knows most of her alphabet, she can count to 10, and count down from 10~! She really did not start talking until I let her watch Baby Einstein. She even does the count down on the microwave...it's crazy, but very cute. I LOVE HER~!

my son is almost 21 months and has known all the letters since about 18 months. he got really obsessed with the foam letters in his bath and learned them that way. he recognizes them on tv, when we write them, etc! he also has favorite letters- O, Q, L, and F?!?!

My son is at 22 months and he knows his abc's as well as being able to count to 15. I also give this credit to sesame street and also to Super Why! It was amazing...one day he just came up to me and started counting (he made it to ten the first time).

My son is 22 months and has been able to identify, say and tell you the sounds of all the letters for many months now. I think I attribute it to us reading to him and his toys because he doesn't watch Sesame Street. We are onto numbers now. I know he can count to at least 6, but can identify numbers through 10... fun times, they are too smart for our good.

Yes, my daughter Sophia has known her letters A-Z and 1-10 since 18 months....she sings part of the ABC song, has only sang it through once. She can read letters on things too, so its not just memorization which is great.

Hi, yes my son is 21 months and also knows the complete alphabet - he recites it in order and recognizes the individual letters as well. I am working on teaching the same in Spanish, he's got the vowels so far.

My daughter (21 months) doesn't know the alphabet, but can count to three. (I blame letting her watch Spongebob instead of Sesame Street. That is going to change soon!)

Amy- My daredevil monkey is the same way! She figured out how to open doors, so we had to get the child door knobs (only a matter of time before she figures them out), we put fridge locks on her dresser drawers and she can not only open them but close them as well. She knows how to open the boxes the protect the outlets with things plugged into them. Had a scare a month ago with her getting her diaperwipes into the heater and filling her room with smoke/ almost catching it on fire!!! We had to take all of her toys small enough to fit in it out of her room.

Yes, my son at age 18 months could sing his ABC's and say each letter separately. We were so amazed I posted a video on my Face Book so that my friends would not think I was telling stories... He also can count to 10 and now at 22 months old he talks better then most 3 or 4 year olds. He is very smart, if you say it he understands it and will duplicate it. he has older siblings, maybe that is where it comes from. We sing during bath time and practice counting when he eats, walks the steps in the house or going into the house. I don't know but he sure is smart!

OMG my son is 20 months as well, His Bday is May 13th. He is absolutely obsessed with Elmo and has learned alot of his abc's friom Sesame Street as well as his numbers.. We were standing under a exit sign the other day and I waws paying no attention as I talked with my cardiologist I thought he was spouting off random letters as I was directly under the sign and did not see it and my doctor said wow he just pointed to the sign and spelled E X I T.. Thank you Sesame Street :)

Kids are funny creatures. They all develop at their own pace. My 22 month old daughter can identify and say all of her capital letters and most of her lowercase letters. She loves to yell out letters she sees as we pass signs or billboards on the road while driving. She started singing the ABC song when she was near 18 months. Sometimes she will say the wrong colors/numbers when I ask her and then give me a mischevious grin like she was being a smart ass. But when family/friends ask her she always answers correctly. I guess sarcasm is genetic because she takes after her dad. ;) Love it.

I actually sing the ABC's to my girls before bed. I know it sounds corny but it works. Mine is not saying the ABC's yet but my almost 4yr old has been singing them with me for over a year now. It helps a lot.

My daughter Lucy knows the alphabet upper and lower case, and yesterday she showed that she recognizes most of her numbers too. She's going to be 22 months old tomorrow. I'm not sure what the 'average' toddler does at this point. Each kid is going to excel at something. My other daughter is 3 1/2 and termed gifted, but I can't get her potty trained for the life of me. :o)

That's great that your son knows the alphabet! It's all about what they're exposed to. My daughter's in a great daycare and used to watch a series of videos that have helped her learn the entire alphabet and all letters by sight, 6 shapes, all of the primary and secondary colors, and she can count to ten. She's 21 months old and if you're interested, the videos are called Preschool Prep. They're fantastic! Have fun with your budding genius!

Yes!!! My daughter has known her letters, well, since she was about 17mos. She is finally singing the song without combining it with twinkle little star!! I have these alphabooks that really paved the way! They are awesome, she also loves sesame street/elmo :) She is also counting to 10, and sings a bunch of songs! Her vocabulary and speech is very good as well... being a mom is soooo awesome!!! I love how she amazes me everyday!!!

not so much letters but he is talking a few words in other languages. its kind of funny they say not to let them watch tv but my tv is on all day and my son is more developed then some of the kids in the neightborhood and family that dont watch but the hour or so of tv

My son Jesaiah was born on May 24. He can recite all 26 letters of the Alphabet, and count to 20. Sometimes he'll miss 15-17 but for the most part can count to 20 independently. He also has an amazing vocabulary of over 250 words that he pronounces fairly accurately. I have to give credit to the "Baby Signing Time", and "Your Baby Can Read" shows, which I've played for him since 4mnths. I also read to him regularly, and he wont go to bed without his "story time". :-) He puts 2-5 word sentences together. He can also sing a couple songs independently, like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "I Love You", and most parts of other songs... It's amazing how much they learn so quickly! I love watching my son grow and learn and I enjoy learning of other babies new accomplishments too!

That is great! My 21 month old daughter can sing the entire alphabet song and she recognizes half of the letters if you ask her to show you one. She has also lerned how to count from 1-20 in english and spanish and can point out the number. Kids are little sponges and if you take the time to teach them they can learn just about anything. Repetition is the key.

ps Oh, and the fact that he's putting words together, like "Here you go." means you don't have anything to worry about. My son can say his ABC's but can only say a few sentences like your child, he's not as far along with that. So it just varies, but no worries at all I'd say, you've got a smarty! :)

I agree with Melania too btw, every kids is different in how and what they learn. IT probably has a lot to do with personality, like she said, her child is more action oriented. But I've heard doctors say not to worry unless your child is like 6 months behind, and I think even then it doesn't always means there's a problem, but it should be checked out just to make sure. By the time they're like 6, they'll all be largely at the same level anyway! :) My son took a long time to sit up without help ( pillows, etc.) when he was little, but he's now saying his abc's and counting, and your lil one will be too, soon I'm sure! I just wanted to get a general idea about where my son stood as far as being able to say his ABC's, so I was intrigued when I say this subject come up.